Coppola: Something missing for Millville on Thanksgiving

Vineland took home the Daily Journal Victory Cup for the second year in a row after taking down rival Millville 28-18 at John Barbose Stadium on Thursday, November 23.
Video produced by Justin Odendhal

Buy Photo

Vineland quarterback Isaih Pacheco (1) fights off a tackle against Millville at John Barbose Stadium on Thursday, November 23.(Photo: Justin Odendhal/Staff Photo)Buy Photo

With that, Millville's hopes of back-to-back South Jersey titles ended. Did the heartbreaking loss to the Red Devils carry over into the Bolts' 28-18 setback against Vineland on Thursday?

"It was hard, it was a hard loss, it hurt us a lot," Millville senior two-way lineman Dylan Washington said of the Rancocas Valley game. "We came (into the Vineland game) with the mentality that we wanted to win, especially with it being the last game for a lot of our seniors.

"We wanted to come away with the win, but we still had that loss on our mind and feel that effected some of the players and our play, and we just can't let stuff like that happen to us."

Losing bragging rights with Vineland for a second straight year definitely didn't help matters.

"You end the season on a two-game losing streak, that's not good," Thomas said. "We just have to regroup and hopefully we get better next year."

Millville has had a strong pipeline of talent coming to the high school level since it started its string of consecutive playoff appearances in 2010 to the present.

That's a legacy this senior class hopes continues as the program turns the page in 2018.

"This season, it was a great run, and it came down to who was going to execute in those last moments, and we weren't able to do it when we needed to," senior linebacker Jermer Downing said. "RV, shot ourselves in the foot. (Thursday), shot ourselves in the foot. So that's what happens.

"It always hurts to lose, cause I see the pain it causes," he said. "But I know there's always going to be a bounce back somehow. Even though this is my last season, I know we have a bunch of great guys coming up and they're going to step up to the plate and do what they have to do."

Something tells me the way 2017 ended will leave the Bolts plenty hungry for the start of next season.